Today, BC Alliance for Arts + Culture executive director Brenda Leadlay travelled to Victoria on behalf of the BC Alliance to speak to the provincial government’s Standing Committee on Finance. The BC Alliance implored the Committee to follow through on its election promise to double the budget of the BC Arts Council—to acknowledge the power of creativity, from professionally funded arts organizations, to the people who work in the creative industries, to every individual who participates in creative activity every single day.

Our requests were straightforward. We asked that the government meet the commitments specifically outlined in Minister Beare’s mandate letter from the Premier.

We requested that the government’s finance committee keep its election promise to double the investment in the BC Arts Council, starting with an immediate $8 million increase in the February 2018 budget. We stated the importance of creating a Capital Fund for the Arts by investing in a cultural facilities infrastructure program to enable BC organizations to leverage federal funding from the Department of Canadian Heritage. We also asked that the government implement multi-year gaming grants and restore gaming funding to 2008 levels.

The BC Alliance remains hopeful that the new provincial government recognizes the economic, social and intrinsic benefits of arts, culture and heritage. We will continue with our strong advocacy efforts to bring our province’s arts council funding on par with other Canadian provinces and territories.